Deadly Silence vs. Vital Response

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter. 

Martin Luther King Jr.

Brother Teasdale on King’s message to us:

“This sobering adage by one of the great prophetic figures of the twentieth century, spurs us on in our commitment to justice, hope, and dedicated action. It’s easy to fall into a pattern of acquiescence and silence, particularly when we are comfortable, and our daily needs are being met.

To speak out, and take a firm stand against injustice and oppression is an act that exposes us to danger and maybe even death, as it was with both King and M.K. Gandhi.”

Of course, as Shakespeare observed, “Conscience doth make cowards of us all” and perhaps our apprehension about possible outcomes fuels our silence. But silence is only a tenuous refuge, one that doesn’t truly protect us.

Sooner or later, injustice reaches us all. Dr. King’s statement is a warning that we need to guard ourselves against a kind of moral death that befalls us if we are not vigilant against indifference and fear.”

Other challenging and inspirational thoughts from MLK:

“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,  but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

A man who does not have something for which he is willing to die is not fit to live.

There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

MLK has always been an inspiration for me… even before the ministry, I listened to his words, was inspired by his example, and as an undergrad at Boston University, found another connection even as I was walking in protests, and in unity in 1968…

At first, I thought that my education and research in the social sciences would lead the way, as I relied on higher education as the way to combat prejudice and ignorance… When social sciences seemed inadequate to the task, I then looked to religion, only to find the words that were being said lacked commitment, and were uttered without sufficient risk so that those words would be transformed into meaningful actions.

Among the many things Matthew Fox taught me, early on in his teachings, there was a small obscure taped interview that was produced where he spoke of the signs of a mature faith. In it, was a phrase that resonates deeply with my conscience, and guides my approach to faith and church going. 

He said that “[There can be no true or mature mysticism without an accompanying concern for justice, and there can be no true spirituality without an accompanying concern for ethics.]”

Of course, there are many other theologians and ethicists who connect these two concerns and see them as the interplay of values and the synergistic support as being the way of more fully comprehending and completing the Gospel message…

It is just that this one was the one that hit me first!

In our media-saturated world, it does seem that the collective conscience of our country’s people are being lulled, or it is dulled (?) into a sleep of denial or a sense of helplessness. The majority of the churches in the South, where I now live, seem to be increasingly irrelevant to the Millennial and Generation Z people that I speak with regularly.

They are much more likely to invest some time in ecological causes, personal spiritual development, or some other form of secular community-building– All outlooks and actions that once were all housed within the church community; and collectively they were the expressions of the church and is values expressed actively in our world. 

I truly hope to be proved wrong, but I despair over the evangelical sell-out to power and privilege. 

I am despondent over the liberal hesitancy to provide people with only an intellectual defense from ignorance, without also providing viable ways towards self/soulful growth. The central task, as I see it, is to provide those actively nurturing transformative ways that are designed to improve our compassionate approaches to rebuilding current culture…